CV lite

EDUCATION

2022: Kenyon Review’s Writers Workshop for Teachers
2022: Stanford University SPICE East Asia Seminars for Teachers in Hawaiʻi
2018: VONA fellow, memoir workshop with Beth Bich Minh Nguyen
2017: PhD, English & creative writing, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
2010: MA, English & creative writing, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
2004: BA, individualized study, New York University, magna cum laude
2003: Summer, political science & language, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
2000: Summer, screenwriting, University of Southern California
1999: Summer, creative writing, University of Cambridge

AWARDS / CONTESTS / SCHOLARSHIPS

2025:

Spring sabbatical from Punahou School
Jack Hazard fellowship

2023:

Lynn Levinson Enrichment Fund grant recipient in support of “Becoming Apparent: Speculative Nonfiction on Parenthood” (book manuscript)
Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction award from the National Society of High School Scholars

2020:

Disquiet Literary Contest (long list)
The Writer magazine’s Essay Contest (finalist)
Blue Earth Review’s Flash Creative Nonfiction Prize (runner up)

2019:

StoryQuarterly’s Fourth Annual Nonfiction Prize (first runner-up)
2040 Books James Alan McPherson Award (finalist)
Autumn House Nonfiction Contest (finalist)
C&R Book’s Awards for CNF/Memoir (short list)

2017: 2017-2018 COG Page to Screen Award (winner)
2014: J. Watumull Scholarship for the Study of India
2014: John Young Scholarship in the Arts
2013–2014: Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship
2010: Myrle Clark Award for Creative Writing
2004: New York University Founder’s Day Award

READINGS / EVENTS / PRESENTATIONS

2026: April: “Curating Diverse Voices: Podcasting” Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) panel discussion, Honolulu

2025

October: M.I.A. revival reading, cosponsored by Kundiman, a reading with Amanda Huynh, D. Kealiʻi MacKenzie, and Misty Sanico, Hub Coworking Hawaiʻi, Honolulu
October: “Speculative Nonfiction and Ancestral Haunting: Writing with a Great-Grandfather I Never Met,” Brown Bag #868 for The Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

2024: April: Launch party for The Mana of Salt by D. Kealiʻi MacKenzie, reading with Donovan Kūhiō Colleps, Noʻu Revilla, and Lyz Soto, da Shop: books + curiosities, Honolulu

2023: March: “The Chronic: Medicine and the Body in Writing,” virtual reading and discussion with Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, Rajiv Mohabir, A. H. Reaume, and Heidi Andrea Rhodes, Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), Seattle

2022

October: Class visit for Kim Compoc, University of Hawaiʻi, West Oʻahu, 300-level course for humanities majors, on Haunani-Kay Trask’s “Lovely Hula Hands,” radio shows + podcasting, and the texts that change our lives
October: Emcee for Rajiv Mohabir and Punahou Students Present Original Poetry
September: Emcee for Noʻu Revilla’s book launch party for Ask the Brindled
July: Class visit for Rajiv Mohabir, Orion Magazine summer creative nonfiction course
June: da Shop presents Joseph Han in conversation with Anjoli Roy

2021

November: Eng 253 virtual class visit + joint reading and Q&A, the Jack Ridl Visiting Writing Series, Hope College
May: Guest reading from Enter the Navel for Susan Clark’s Joy of Reading course, Punahou School
April: “So, You Have a Degree in English?: Ways to Use Your Degree Outside the Tenure Track,” Careers Workshop, Department of English, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
March: “On Writing Enter the Navel: For the Love of Creative Nonfiction, An Abecedarian Apologia for the Genre,” Brown Bag #774 for The Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

2020

December: Guest reading from Enter the Navel for Susan Clark’s Joy of Reading course, Punahou School
December: Enter the Navel Reading & Launch Party, with special guest readers Hari Alluri & Neelanjana Banerjee, hosted by Rajiv Mohabir
November: A Reading & Craft Talk on Creative Nonfiction with Anjoli Roy, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Words@Mānoa Series
November: Reading from Enter the Navel and discussion, Stephanie Han’s Women’s Creative Writing Workshop
October: “Exploring Hawaiʻi’s Literary Landscape,” Bamboo Ridge’s Virtual Writers Institute
October, “Growing Magic in the Sidewalk: Podcasts and Community in Hawaiʻi,” Moʻolelo Matters interview
March: “In Defense of Navel-Gazing: For the Love of Creative Nonfiction,” Pushing Past Page 70: Reaching Creative Nonfiction Readers, Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), San Antonio
March: “Beyond the Page: Podcasting to Reach New Audiences,” To Boldly Go: Unconventional Publishing Opportunities from Radio and Beyond, Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), San Antonio

2019

October: “Beyond the Page: Podcasting and Body Transformations to Reach New Audiences” (workshop co-lead with Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng), Words@Mānoa, Honolulu
October: “Grandpa Was a Skin Diver,” Mixing Innovative Arts Tenth Anniversary Reading, Honolulu
August: It’s Lit M.I.A Takeover (cohosted with Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng), Honolulu
May: “Deep Research for World-Building in Narrative Nonfiction: Writing Workshop and Q&A with Author Gilbert King” (interviewer moderator), Hawaiʻi Book and Music Festival, Honolulu
March: “What Waits on Beadon Street,” True Story: Revolutionary Creative Nonfiction, Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), Portland

2018

November: “Little Red BMW,” Every Voice Matters: Poetry, Prose, and Inclusion, Honolulu
March: It’s Lit M.I.A. Takeover (cohosted with Jocelyn Kapumealani Ng), Honolulu
March: “What Waits on Beadon Street: Fighting Diaspora’s Erasing Impulses,” Roundtable on South Asian American, Association of Asian American Studies, San Francisco (paper accepted)

2017: April: Kundiman reading, Mixing Innovative Arts, Honolulu

2016

April: “What Waits at Beadon Street,” Crossing Genres, Crossing Seas: Writing the South Asian Diaspora, Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), Los Angeles
August: “This Part of the Body” and “Un-love Letter,” Mixing Innovative Arts Seventh Anniversary Reading, Honolulu
May: “Love Letter to Kurseong,” The 2016 Ian MacMillan Writing Awards, Honolulu

2015

April: “Where the Water Is” (excerpt) & “From Bani Roy’s Recipes for Excellent Bengali Meals,” Mana Wahine Reading, Honolulu
April: “In Bones We Carry” (with Donovan Kūhiō Colleps; unpublished) & “When the Mouth Closes,” Decolonial Solidarities, Honolulu
April: “How We Define Our Stories, How Our Stories Define Us: A Pre-1965 India-to-U.S. Immigration Story,” Decolonial Futures in South Asia and Beyond, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for South Asian Studies, 32nd Annual Symposium, Honolulu

2014

February: “Finding Family in the Archives: Storytelling in Delhi, Kurseong, and Kolkata,” Brown Bag Biography, cosponsored by the Center for South Asian Studies and the Center for Biographical Research, Honolulu
August: “Where the Water Is” (excerpt), Mixing Innovative Arts, Honolulu
February: “Stroke” and “The Last Thing Left,” The New Oceania Literary Series featuring Sudesh Mishra, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu

2013

October: “Eat the Garden,” A Pacific Poetry Feast, Kokua Market, Honolulu
September: “Clamoring for Whiteness or Struggling for Survival?: A Pre-1965 India-to-US Immigration Story,” Second Annual Asians in the Americas Symposium, Pepperdine University, Malibu
May: BYOW: Build Your Own Workshop, Mixing Innovative Arts, Mixing Innovative Arts, Honolulu

& earlier

April 2011: “Told You So,” M.I.A. Art & Literary Series, Fresh Cafe, Honolulu
April 2010: “What Babas Are For,” Fathers’ Day: Readings in Creative Writing, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu
October 2009: “Walls,” The Mānoa Experience, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu
2003: “Reconcile,” INI, New York City
2001: “Reconcile,” Da Poetry Lounge, Los Angeles

TEACHING

August 2018–Present: English Teacher, Punahou Academy, Honolulu
- Courses taught:
  - ENG 3/4: Creative Nonfiction & Scientific Storytelling
  - ENG 3/4: Creative Writing
  - ENG 3/4: Identity & Culture
  - ENG 3/4: Magical Realism
  - ENG 3/4: Writing with Clarity & Grace
  - ENG 3: American Literature–Dream & Disillusion
  - ENG 2: Global Sustainability by Design: Asian Studies (cotaught transdisciplinary course, social studies and English)
  - ENG 2: Sophomore English
  - ENG 2: Visual Storytelling (cotaught transdisciplinary course, studio art and English)
August 2012–August 2016: Instructor, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu
- Courses taught:
  - ENG 313: Types of Creative Writing: Truth & Lies in Storytelling–Fiction & Creative Nonfiction
  - ENG 311: Autobiographical Writing–Memoir
  - ENG 273: Introduction to Memoir
  - ENG 273: Introduction to Fiction
  - ENG 200: Advanced Composition
  - ENG 100: Composition
September 2013–July 2016: Memoir Instructor, Kāhala Nui Continuing Care Retirement Community, Honolulu
January 2011–May 2012: Lecturer, St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn
- Courses taught:
  - Community Health and Human Services 403: Liberal Arts
  - General Studies 402: Critical Thinking for Professionals
December 2010–February 2011: Tutor, Champion Learning Center, New York City
September 2008–May 2010: Teaching Assistant/Graduate Assistant/Mentor, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu
September 2008–May 2009: Tutor, Juku Tutorial Institute, Honolulu
January–June 2006: Aide to Instructor, The Mercy Center, The Bronx

EDITING / WRITING

August 2016–August 2018: Managing Editor, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, The Center for Biographical Research, Honolulu
May 2013–May 2015: Editor in Chief, Hawai‘i Review, Honolulu
May 2009–May 2011: General Editor, Vice-Versa, Honolulu
February 2011–July 2012: Grants Coordinator, GEMS: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, New York City
March–April 2011: Copy Editor, ICAP: International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, New York City
October 2008–May 2010: Editor, Kahuaomānoa Press, Honolulu
August 2009–May 2010: Grace K.J. Abernethy Apprentice, Mānoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing, Honolulu
October 2009–May 2010: Copy Editor, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, Honolulu
November 2008–August 2009: Editor, The Center on the Family, Honolulu
January 2005–August 2008: Associate Editor, The Feminist Press at CUNY, New York City
September 2005–August 2008: Managing Editor, WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, New York City

OTHER

November 2016–Present: Podcast/Radio Cohost, It’s Lit with PhDJ, Honolulu
November 2012–July 2013: Student Coordinator, Words in the World Symposium, Honolulu
September 2012: Volunteer Coordinator, Audre Lorde Legacy Festival, Honolulu
May–November 2004: Assistant Organizer, Global Women’s Gathering, Phoenicia
May–November 2004: Coproducer, Mariposa Film, New York City
May–August 2002: Reporter, Core Media Group/Sierra Madre Weekly, Sierra Madre